‘Fantastic Four’ Casting Update: Sue Storm and Ben Grimm Cast(ish)

As Marvel makes waves with its Guardians of the Galaxy trailer, and Warner Bros. has fans frothing at the idea of even catching a glimpse of Batfleck’s costume, Fox sheepishly goes on attempting to cast its Fantastic Four reboot. The latest rumors suggest Kate Mara (House of Cards, American Horror Story) will take up the Invisible Woman’s tights–beware the inevitable dye job–while Jamie Bell (Nymphomanic, The Adventures of Tintin–it’s weird seeing those side by side) is in talks to play our resident craggy orange guy, the Thing. We presumably won’t see much of Bell himself on screen, but he and Mara both have enough acting cred to breathe life into these nominally fantastic characters. They’ll join Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station, Chronicle) and Miles Teller (Divergent, The Spectacular Now) who’ll play the Human Torch and Mr. Fantastic respectively.

Here’s to hoping Josh Trank can open up Fox’s superhero universe into something to look forward to. Right now, the studio is lightyears behind Marvel and–arguably–WB in establishing a rich, interactive, exciting world for all of these crazy people to fight bad guys in. But with Days of Future Past on the horizon, and this surprising list of actors to invigorate a flagging property, Fox is on-track for a rebound.